This disclosure relates to an improved apparatus for mounting, transporting and handling large drums of spooled heavy duty cable. In particular, the disclosure relates to a trailer or truck-mountable apparatus for transporting and handling (or rotating) large spools or drums of heavy electrical or other cabling.
Various devices have been produced for transporting and handling large drums of cabling. For example, cable handling devices have been mounted on large trucks or trailers. Mounting drums onto the truck involves backing the truck (or trailer) up to a point close to and in alignment with the drum. A mandrel or shaft is inserted through an opening that extends down the center of the drum cylinder. Lift arms on the truck (or trailer) are attached to the mandrel and braces may be affixed on the lift arms are put into contact with the ground, to support the lift arms. The drum is then raised up onto the truck. Typically, a hydraulic drive gear, direct drive gear, or a tire that is in contact with the drum may be used to rotate the drum, thereby either spooling cable out, or spooling cable back onto the drum.
Unfortunately, these prior devices have significant safety and design drawbacks. For example, use of the mandrel means that workers must manually lift and insert the mandrel into the drum, and the mandrels often weigh over one hundred pounds. The mandrel can also be damaged or lost, resulting in the drum trailer or truck shutting down until the mandrel is repaired or a new mandrel found. Not only does this result in the risk of injury to workers, but different size mandrels must be available for different sizes of drums.
Furthermore, a hydraulic drive wheel mechanism that is pushed into the drum is not optimal. The tire often needs significant external pressure applied to create sufficient friction for driving (that is, rotating) the drum. Hydraulic systems can also bleed-off, causing the drum to not be engaged to the tire drive. Direct gear drives have to be greased as well as replaced to operate, and are often quite heavy. Direct drives have an inherent pinch point creating an unsafe work environment.
In many applications of the cable held on the drum, the cable is connected (or banded) to an apparatus. For example, in some drilling operations, the cable is a power cable, and needs to be connected to a steel cylinder of a drill. To perform this connection in the field, as it is spooled out, the cable is held against the steel cylinder and a metal or plastic band is wrapped around the cylinder and the cable. The wrapped band is then tightened and the ends crimped and cut with a banding machine, to hold the cable to the cylinder.
In these applications, the banding is typically held on a banding cart. Often, the cart is mounted to the spool trailer (or other vehicle). However, the banding and the cart are often relatively heavy, and thus loading and unloading of the banding cart device can be a grueling process. The typical way that the banding cart is loaded onto the truck or trailer is by simply dead lifting the entire cart into the desired position creating the potential for serious injuries to workers. Thus, prior cable drum handling vehicles (and related devices) have numerous shortcomings.